Geography and the RNC

Katie Couric, the host of CBS' Evening News, made a simple mistake recently. She said the Republican National Convention was in one city when, in fact, it's in another city. Yes, the Perky One made the all too common mistake of assuming John McCain would accept the Republican nomination in Minneapolis. Normally, I would upbraid her for making a rookie mistake. Then I would make a comment like, 'Is the DNC in Boulder, Colo. this year?!' But it's tough to make fun of a NY-based anchorwoman for messing up when the state's own elected politicians can't get it straight. At least Couric had the sense to apologize; you can watch the Couric apology here.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann, whose own party will be descending on the Twin Cities, just screwed up in the same way. Bachmann appeared on CNN's Larry King Live, where she said:

"I think everybody should come to Minneapolis. It's the most beautiful city in the United States. And everybody is going to want to come here. I think it will be tough to keep away from this city, it's going to be so great.''

Her spokesperson later said it was not what she intended to say, and it appears she won't be apologizing. Here's the video of her slip, it comes at about 6:28.

And then there was that time the federal government got confused. In May Rep. Betty McCollum pointed out in a congressional committee that a report looking into hospital capacity for an emergency at the RNC did not include Regions Hospital in St. Paul but did include Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Yeah, it's rough being St. Paul sometimes.